Dear Interested Party:

Transcription

1 United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service Kaibab National Forest 800 South Sixth Street Williams, AZ (928) File Code: 1950 Date: April 24, 2015 Dear Interested Party: The (KNF) has received a special use permit application from the Town of Tusayan (Town) to approve roadway and utility easements on property managed by the KNF. The proposed easements lie within the Tusayan Ranger District of the KNF. The easements, if approved, would allow the Town to make improvements to segments of existing forest roads and construct new segments to provide all weather access and utility service to two inholding properties within the KNF that are located within the incorporated limits of the Town. These properties, Ten-X Ranch and Kotzin Ranch, are not owned or managed by the federal government, but are surrounded by federal lands administered by the KNF. If the KNF approves the easements and construction of the proposed roadway and utility improvements, the improved existing roadways would continue to be open to the public for travel and the new roadways would be open to the public for travel. The roadway improvements would begin at State Route 64 (SR 64) in the Town. Forest Road (FR) 302 would be improved from SR 64 for approximately 2.8 miles east to the Ten-X Ranch property. The Kotzin Ranch portion of the project consists of two proposed access roads, one to the northern portion of the property and one to the southern portion. The proposed northern access roadway and utility corridor would be approximately 1.5 miles long, starting at the intersection of SR 64 and Moqui Drive (FR 328) and continuing along existing KNF roadways to the Kotzin Ranch property to the west. The proposed southern access roadway and utility corridor would be approximately 1.4 miles long and would connect the existing SR 64 roundabout at Long Jim Loop to the Kotzin Ranch property to the west. This access would utilize existing KNF roadways and new roadways. A scoping packet has been prepared to help familiarize interested members of the public with the specifics of the project, which includes a description of the proposed action. It is enclosed with this letter and can be obtained from the Tusayan Ranger District, the Williams Ranger District, the KNF Supervisor's Office, or the KNF website at two locations: and The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Council on Environmental Quality s regulations at 40 CFR Parts require an evaluation of potential environmental impacts associated with federal projects and actions with input from the public. Public scoping meetings will be held for all parties that are interested in learning more about the proposed action and expressing their comments, ideas, and concerns to the KNF. The meetings will be an open house format. Following are the dates, times and locations of the Public Scoping Meetings: May 18, 5:00 pm- 8:00 pm, Williams Elementary School Auditorium, 601 N 7th Street, Williams, Arizona Caring for the Land and Serving People Printed on Recycled Paper

2 2720 Mr. Tress, Westland Resources 2 May 19, 5:00 pm- 8:00 pm, Grand Canyon Squire Inn, 100 Highway 64, Tusayan, Arizona May 20, 5:00 pm- 8:00 pm, Doubletree, 1175 W Route 66, Flagstaff, Arizona The purpose of this notice is to invite public involvement on the proposed roadway easements. Written comments may be electronically delivered or hand-delivered, for 40 calendar days following the date of this letter. Comments can be provided in one of the following ways: Online: comments-southwestern-kaibab@fs.fed.us Subject Line: "Tusayan Roadway Easements" U.S. Mail: ATIN: Deirdre McLaughlin Williams Ranger District 742 S Clover Rd Williams, AZ Phone: (928) Fax: (928) Subject Line: "Tusayan Roadway Easements" Comments received in response to this solicitation, including names and addresses of those who comment, will become part of the public record for this project. In an effort to increase efficiency and reduce spending, future communications for this project will be electronic. If you would like to continue to receive these communications, please provide your address to: comments-southwestern-kaibab@fs.fed.us. If you do not have access to or the internet and would like to continue to receive these communications, please contact Deirdre McLaughlin, Forest Service Project Case Manager, 742 S. Clover Street, Williams, Arizona or (928) Thank you for your interest in the management of National Forest System lands. Sincerely, ~5 ---: LA MICHAEL R. WIL~S {f' Forest Supervisor Enclosures (2)

3 KAIBAB NATIONAL FOREST APRIL 2015 SOUTHWESTERN REGION, R3 PROJECT DEFINITION PROPOSED ROADWAY EASEMENTS TUSAYAN, AZ The (KNF) has received a special use permit application from the Town of Tusayan (Town) to approve roadway and utility easements on property managed by the KNF. The proposed easements lie within the Tusayan Ranger District of the KNF. The easements, if approved, would allow the Town to make improvements to segments of existing forest roads and construct new segments to provide all weather access and utility service to two inholding properties within the KNF that are located within the incorporated limits of the Town. These properties, Ten-X Ranch and Kotzin Ranch, are not owned or managed by the federal government, but are surrounded by federal lands administered by the KNF. If the KNF approves the easements and construction of the proposed roadway and utility improvements, the completed roadways would remain open to the public for travel, where the roads are currently open. Any new sections of roadway would be opened to the public for travel after construction. The granting of roadway easement would be in accordance with the Act of October 13, 1964 (commonly known as the Federal Roads and Trails Act), Public Law , for a permanent easement for road rights-of-way over lands and interest in land administered by the Forest Service. The utility corridors would be in accordance with the Federal Land Management Policy Act of 1976, Title V. (commonly known as FLPMA). The proposed uses have passed both the initial and second level screening for the proposed use of roadway and utility corridors to access and improve private land in-holdings interior to the. The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Forest Service s implementing regulations require the KNF to analyze the impacts of the roadway easements on the environment. Based upon his initial review, the Forest Supervisor has determined that an environmental assessment (EA) is the appropriate level of NEPA review. The EA will: identify other alternatives to the proposed action that meet the purpose and need and are responsive to public comments or are identified by Forest Service resource specialists determine if the preferred action would have a significant adverse impact on the environment Based on the initial public scoping and subsequent analysis, the Forest Supervisor may determine that further analysis is required in an Environmental Impact Statement. PURPOSE AND NEED The need for this project is to improve access to the private land holding properties located within the incorporated limits of the Town. The only access to the Kotzin and Ten-X Ranches is through the National Forest Service (NFS) lands that surround the private property. As much of the traffic on the roadway will consist of non-forest user traffic, roads will need to be constructed to a safe and adequate standard for the traffic they will receive. The Pre-Annexation and Development Agreement (PADA) No and the First Amendment to the PADA No between the Town and Stilo Development Group USA, LP (Stilo) - 1 -

4 Project Definition April 2015 Proposed Roadway Easements Tusayan, Arizona provides for all-weather access to the Kotzin Ranch and Ten-X Ranch in-holdings. Commercial and residential development proposed on both properties would require higher level of services for vehicle access as well as accommodation for the required utilities. PROPOSED ACTION The proposed action is to approve the transportation and utility easements improvements to segments of existing forest roads and construct new segments to two in-holding properties. Kotzin Ranch includes land owned by the Town and Stilo, and Ten-X is wholly owned by Stilo. The Town is the applicant and will hold the easements sought in the special use permit application. The roadway improvements and utility construction would begin at State Route 64 (SR 64) in the Town. As shown on the enclosed figure, access and utility service to Ten-X Ranch requires improvements to the existing Forest Road (FR) 302. The road and utility service access to Kotzin Ranch would require improving segments of existing FR 605M (Long Jim Loop) and FR 605 as well as construction of new road and utility corridor segments. In total, approximately 28,220 linear feet of roadway access and utility corridor (including approximately 260 linear feet of sewer line without roadway access) are requested. The total area of disturbance on NFS land is estimated to be approximately 52.0 acres, of which 17.5 acres (34 percent) has been previously disturbed. The approved transportation and utility easement improvements would provide maintenance level 5 roadway access to the two in-holding properties. As defined in Forest Service Handbook (FSH) , 12.3), maintenance level 5 is assigned to roads that provide a high degree of user comfort and convenience; these roads are normally double-lane, paved facilities. The enclosed figure depicts the cross section of the proposed corridor and conforms to applicable local standards. The corridor would accommodate two, paved travel lanes (14 feet wide each), resulting in 28 feet of surfaced roadway, with aggregate shoulders (2 feet wide each) and a 14-foot-wide border area/utility corridor adjacent to each shoulder. The corridor would also accommodate an 8-foot-wide bike/pedestrian path on either side of the paved surface. An additional 4 feet would allow for adjustments to grade. In total, an 80-foot-wide corridor is requested to provide all weather access and utility service to the two privately owned in-holding parcels. Maintenance of the subsequent easements would fall to the Town. SUBMISSION OF COMMENTS To ensure that your comments are fully considered during the scoping phase of this project, we request that you submit comments within 40 days of the date on the attached cover letter. Comments may be submitted in the following manner: Online: comments-southwestern-kaibab@fs.fed.us Subject Line: Tusayan Roadway Easements U.S. Mail: ATTN: Deirdre McLaughlin Williams Ranger District 742 S Clover Rd Williams, AZ Phone: (928) Fax: (928) Subject Line: Tusayan Roadway Easements - 2 -

5 R2E R3E Path: M:\Jobs\1700's\ \ENV\Scoping\MXD\Figures\Fig1_Vicinity.mxd Date: 4/14/2015 User: tanyao ARIZONA COCONINO COUNTY FLAGSTAFF PROJECT LOCATION Grand Canyon National Park PHOENIX YUMA TUCSON Kaibab National Forest Approximate Scale 1 Inch = 10 Miles Kotzin Ranch TenX Ranch T30N T29N T30N, R2E, Portion of Sections 13, 14, 23, 24, T30N, R3E, Portion of Sections 19, 29, 30, Coconino County, Arizona, Tusayan East & Tusayan West USGS 7.5' Quadrangles Image Source: ArcGIS Online, USA Topo, National Geographic Southwestern Region, R3 ± Legend Proposed Roadway Easements Private Land (No Color) 0 3,000 6,000 Feet 0 1,000 2,000 Meters TUSAYAN Proposed Roadway Easements VICINITY MAP